The doublehanders

Rich Roberts talks to Philippe Kahn about his imminent Transpac

Six of the 74 owner/skippers in this 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii picked their crews from a short list - a very short list. They're racing with only one other guy on the boat to trim sails, help set spinnakers, operate the radio, make sandwiches, clean any fish they might catch and take over completely when you desperately need a nap.

It's not necessarily that they can't afford to pay or provide for a full crew; most just prefer it that way.

Philippe Kahn, the software entrepreneur who created the camera phone, has raced other Transpacs with, as one once said, some of the best crews money can buy. His other Pegasus boats won the Barn Door trophy for fastest elapsed time in 2001 and 2003, but he is doing this one doublehanded on an Open 50, Pegasus 101, with Richard Clarke, a Canadian member of Kahn's Pegasus Racing syndicate. They'll start Sunday at 1 p.m. PDT with the other biggest and fastest off Point Fermin in San Pedro.
Most of the remaining starters may be viewed up close at Rainbow Harbor, now Transpac's mainland home port. One of the premier local entries - Bob Lane's Medicine Man - will drop in early Sunday morning to participate in the spirited send-off ceremonies at 10 a.m. Sunday.

"This is going to be a fun adventure," Kahn said, with some trepidation.

Five other doublehanders are already at sea after the first two starts Monday and Thursday, and one team - Tim Fuller and Erik Shampain on Brilliant from Murrietta, CA - was leading Division 6 on the fifth day out. Another - septuagenarians Mike Abraham and Phillip Rowe on Tango from Newport Beach - were in fourth place in Division 5, perhaps buoyed by a crowd singing a happy 70th birthday to Rowe on their way out of Rainbow Harbor Thursday.

The other doublehanders are Allen Lehman Sr. and Jr. on Narrow Escape in Division 5, Steen Moller and Bob MacDonald on X-Dream in Division 6 and tuba playing siblings Bob and Mike Webster on their catamaran The Minnow.

In Friday morning's position reports Brilliant was as close to Honolulu as anybody, tied with Ho'okolohe at 1,919 nautical miles to go, with Cesar de Saracho's Enchilado - both in Aloha A - only one mile behind. However, the early positions were still too tricky to project final finishing positions with much certainty; boats to the south generally trailed in the standings but were sailing faster and could be gaining leverage for their eventual turns toward the islands when - if? - they find the trade winds.

For example, the boats that logged the most miles over the 24 hours preceding Friday's morning roll call tended to be low in the standings. Chip McGeath's Santa Cruz 52 Kokopelli 2 had the best day of any boat with 180 miles at 10.6 knots, but Cirrus, Traveler and Lady Liberty ranked last in Aloha B, despite sailing much farther than the leaders.

This will be Kahn's 10th race across the Pacific, so he knows the drill well.

"I think the weather systems may be more complex than they have ever been," he said. "The [fastest] track today goes right through the [Pacific] High. Some routes even want you to go north, while others want you to sail minimum distance. Usually, that option leads to challenging light conditions."

That's what Kahn and Clarke must deal with in their quest for Transpac's doublehanded record: 10 days 4 hours 4 minutes 19 seconds by Howard Gordon and Jay Crum, also on an Open 50 Etranger in 2001. Open 50s, with canting keels and huge dagger boards projecting through their cabin tops when not employed, are often sailed singlehanded, but even with two crew they're a handful.

"This has truly turned into a personal Everest," Kahn said. "Doublehanded is very intense because you want to push all the time, as opposed to singlehanded when you naturally throttle down. Literally, I'm a big guy for training to get up that mast, but we're doing it. Heck, I even have to go up the mast for rig checks. So it’s the full package. I'd never spent much time up the mast before.

"For now we are a bit slower than the polars that we were told by the designer. These boats love to reach and you can’t be afraid of sailing extra miles. Yet doublehanded, you really can’t sail the same ways as a crew. When we sail with five we just whip jibes and tacks. With just two it’s a totally different story. Jibing is a major move that needs to be planned 30 minutes in advance and carefully executed. Over 28 knots it’s a real challenge."

Aside from being an experienced Volvo Ocean Race sailor, Clarke is a world-class Finn sailor so he's used to sailing shorthanded. "We figure we'll lose 30 miles overall to the fully crewed boats just doing tacks, jibes and sail changes," he said.

Transpac 2007 entries and DTG

Division 1 (Starts July 15)

Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh 90), Roy E. Disney, Burbank, Calif. (minus-21 hours, 9 minutes, 13 seconds)
Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach, Calif. (00:4:32:33)
Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (1:04:09:36)
Peligroso (Kernan 70), Mike Campbell/Dale Williams, Long Beach (1:05:17:12)
Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long Beach (1:07:02:37)

Division 2 (Starts July 15)

Hugo Boss (Volvo 60), Andy Tourell, Gosport, UK (1:23:10:32)
DH-Pegasus 101 (Open 50), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu (2:00:47:54)
Samba Pa Ti (Transpac 52), John Kilroy Jr., Los Angeles (2:04:02:17)
Lucky (Transpac 52), Bryon Ehrhart, Chicago (2:05:26:28)
Morning Light (Transpac 52), Jeremy Wilmot, Honolulu (2:05:27:19)
Westerly (Santa Cruz 70), Thomas and Timothy Hogan, Newport Beach (2:06:06:45)
Skylark (Santa Cruz 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach, Calif. (2:06:24:05)
Holua (Santa Cruz 70), Brack Duker, Pasadena, Calif. (2:08:51:12)
Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (2:09:31:32)

Division 3 (Starts July 15)

Denali (Nelson/Marek 70), William McKinley, Grosse Pointe, Mich. (2:13:37:33)
It's OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordo Sailing, Glendora, Calif. (2:14:25:31)
Cheetah (ULDB 70), Chris Slagerman, Los Angeles (2:18:18:28)
Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. 2:197:54:52)
Yumehyotan (Nelson/Marek 68), Yasuo Sano, Osaka, Japan (2:22:57:25)
Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport Beach 2:23:51:49)
Bengal 7 (Ohashi 46), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (3:03:43:16)
Locomotion (Andrews 45), Ed Feo, Long Beach (3:03:56:13)

Division 4 (Started July 12)

1. Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach (4:00:24:09), 2,083 miles to go.
2. Delicate Balance (Andrews 56), DBB Transpac LLC, San Rafael, Calif. (3:20:58:21), 2,085.
3. Raincloud (J/48), Lorenzo Berho Corona, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (3:22:26:21), 2,097.
4. Verizon Wireless (ex-Stealth Chicken; Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (3:08:33:34), 2,097.
5. Ruahatú (Concordia 47), Ricardo Brockmann, Acapulco, Mexico (3:23:58:37), 2,115.
6. Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, Santa Rosa, Calif. (3:16:51:29), 2,116.
7. Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Wilsonville, Ore. (3:22:20:02), 2,119.
NO REPORT--Lucky Dog (J/125), Colin Shanner, San Diego (3:21:37:33)
NO REPORT--The Secret (MacGregor 65), Cheryle Rayson/Garry Golding, Salisbury Downs, Australia (3:21:57:52)

Division 50/52 (Started July 12)

1, Relentless (Santa Cruz 52), Will Durant/Rick Brizendine, Long Beach (3:16:42:19), 2,075.
2. Adrenalin (Santa Cruz 50), David Clark, Newport Beach (3:19:43:59), 2,085.
3. Hula Girl (Santa Cruz 50T), Beau Gayner, Newport Beach (3:17:23:38), 2,102.
4. Kokopelli 2 (Santa Cruz 52), S.A. (Chip) Megeath, Tiburon, Calif. (3:03:55:25), 2,109.
5. Stags' Leap Winery (ex-Chasch Mer; Santa Cruz 50), Gib Black, Honolulu (4:05:22:35), 2,119.
6. Fortaleza (Santa Cruz 50), Jim Morgan, Long Beach (4:00:12:42), 2,119.
7. Passion (Santa Cruz 50), Steve Hastings, Corpus Christi, Tex. (3:20:35:39), 2,122. 8. Tachyon III (Santa Cruz 52), Kazumasa Nishioka, Tokyo (3:18:57:36), 2,122.
9. Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif. (4:00:14:46), 2,134.

Division 5 (Started July 12)

1. Tabasco (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco (5:02:01:10), 2,117.
2. Recidivist (Schumacher 39), Ken Olcott, Los Altos, Calif. (5:09:17:24), 2,128.
3. Rancho Deluxe (Swan 45), Mike Diepenbrock, Sacramento, Calif. (4:10:34:37), 2,122.
4. DH-Tango (J/133), Michael Abraham, Newport Beach (4:19:58:16), 2,125.
5. DH-Narrow Escape (Fast 40), Allen Lehman Jr., Payson, Ariz. (4:20:59:25), 2,132. 6. Uncontrollable Urge (Columbia 30), James/Chris Gilmore, Carlsbad, Calif. (4:23:42:31), 2,135.
7. Tower (Lidgard 45), Doug Grant, San Pedro, Calif. (4:10:51:22), 2,133.
8. Paddy Wagon (Ross 40), Richard Mainland, Los Angeles (4:15:58:16), 2,157.
NO REPORT--On the Edge of Destiny (1D35), Sean Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (5:00:05:40)

Division 6 (Started July 9)

1. DH-Brilliant (J/100), Tim Fuller, Murrieta, Calif. (5:21:44:43), 1,919.
2. Peregrine (Hobie 33), Simon Garland, San Diego (5:21:13:46), 1,927.
3. Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (6:03:41:56), 1,938.
4. Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (7:03:57:50), 1,951.
5. Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Placerville, Calif. (7:02:47:32), 1,950.
6. DH-X Dream (X-119), Steen Moller, Point Richmond, Calif. (5:12:37:00), 1,942.
7. Shanti (Olson 911S), Jon Eberly, Greenbrae, Calif. (7:17:47:09), 1,963 .
8. California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Novato, Calif. (7:01:16:11), 1,965.
9. Inspired Environments (Beneteau First 40.7), Timothy Ballard, Sausalito, Calif. (5:20:14:31), 1,982.

Aloha A (Started July 9)

1. Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Tucson, Ariz. (4:23:43:58), 1,920.
2. Ho'okolohe (Farr 58), Alyson and Cecil Rossi, Novato, Calif. (4:10:58:57), 1,919.
3. Alsumar (S&S 70), Bill and Ted Davis, Las Vegas, Nev. (4:22:27:48), 1,928.
4. Ariadne (Ladd 73), Frank Easterbrook, Newport Beach (4:08:39:09), 1,926.
5. Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey (5:12:56:15), 1,942.
6. French Kiss (Beneteau 50), Bryan Daniels, Alamo, Calif. (5:11:59:45), 1,942.
7. Windswept (Sean 57), Maxwell Phelps, Jamul, Calif. (5:06:21:29), 1,941.
8. Anna Katarina (First 47.7), John Otterson, La Jolla, Calif. (5:08:31:43), 1,943.

Aloha B (Started July 9)

1. Mysteré (Swan 42), Jorge Morales, Dana Point, Calif. (6:12:14:02), 1,942.
2. Ginny (Calkins 50), Chris Calkins/Norm Reynolds, Encinitas, Calif. (5:18:26:52), 1,935.
3. Cirrus (Standfast 40), William D. Myers, Honolulu (7:02:14:16), 2,000.
4. Traveler (North Wind 47), Michael Lawler, Newport Beach (6:14:37:49), 2,016.
5. Lady Liberty (Catalina 36), John Wallner, Calabasas, Calif. (8:12:05:44), 2,044.
RETIRED--Gaviota (Cal 2-46), Jim Partridge, Pasadena, Calif. (6:20:18:32).
.
DH-Doublehanded.

Multihull

LoeReal (Jeanneau 60 trimaran), H.L. Enloe, El Paso, Tex. (starts July 15)
Minnow (Catana 52 catamaran), Bob and Mike Webster, Pryor, Okla. (started July 12), 2,132.